United States presidential election, 1872

The United States presidential election, 1872 was held on 5 November 1872. The incumbent Republican president Ulysses S. Grant ran for a second term with Henry Wilson as his running mate, and he faced various Democratic Party opponents. New York City newspaper editor Horace Greeley ran with Benjamin Gratz Brown as his running mate, leading the short-lived "Liberal Republican Party" (which was considered to be a part of the Democratic Party). The Democrats also ran Thomas A. Hendricks, Charles J. Jenkins, David Davis, and Charles O'Conor as candidates.

The race was effectively one between Grant and Greeley, and Reconstruction was a major issue. While Grant was known for preferring to forcibly readmit the "reconstructed" American South into the Union, Greeley favored amnesty for former Confederate officials and supported withdrawing US Army troops from the South, claiming that the troops had propped up corrupt Republican regimes in the south. Greeley on 29 November 1872, before the electoral college could cast its votes, so Brown received 18 votes, Jenkins 2 votes, Davis 1 vote, and Hendricks 42 votes, while Grant swept the election with 286 votes. Grant easily overcame the split Democratic vote to have a second term in office, continuing Reconstruction for four more years.

Results

 * Liberal dot.png Ulysses S. Grant/Henry Wilson - 286 votes
 * Conservative dot.png Thomas A. Hendricks - 42 votes
 * Conservative dot.png Benjamin Gratz Brown - 18 votes
 * Conservative dot.png Charles J. Jenkins - 2 votes
 * Conservative dot.png David Davis - 1 vote